marktrevorowen

Mining The Past

The ‘Memories’ tab on Facebook is one of the site’s more endearing features. Now that they’ve tweaked the algorithm so it doesn’t send inappropriately chirpy reminders to people of the time their grandfather died and dozens of people sent messages, it’s a helpful aide-memoire of things that you posted on today’s date in years goneContinue reading “Mining The Past”

Women of Manx History

To mark International Women’s Day 2021, I’ve written a piece for Gef on interesting women from Manx history. There are loads, basically – far more than I could include in the space available, without doing them the injustice of being too brief. I’m hoping to get a chance to write about a few more remarkableContinue reading “Women of Manx History”

The Beginning of The Champions

Supercool Sixties spy series The Champions begins a re-run on Talking Pictures TV, on Sunday 7 March. I’ve written about the show before, in an article you can find elsewhere on the site, for a general overview. To mark the occasion of the Talking Pictures re-run, I’ve made a more detailed examination of the firstContinue reading “The Beginning of The Champions”

The Migration of the Teddy Bears

The way different animals migrate has fascinated people for countless millennia. From salmon swimming upstream with unerring accuracy to find their spawning grounds, to birds flying south to avoid the cold touch of winter, to herds of wildebeest locating their fresh grazing lands. It’s a reminder that there are some parts of nature that willContinue reading “The Migration of the Teddy Bears”

Tower Record

Of all the buildings in the Isle of Man, this must be one of the most remarkable. Cynics scoffed when the Third Ronague Cub Pack proposed building a replica of the Eiffel Tower out of lolly sticks, next to their hut. But under the watchful eye of their Akela, Mrs Kineen, the result, as youContinue reading “Tower Record”

Signs of Wonder

Let me take you by the thoroughly-sanitised hand and lead you through the streets of the Isle of Man. When I’m not photographing the interesting or frankly bizarre buildings of my own dear Ellan Vannin, I also like to mix things up a bit by taking pictures of some of the more attention-grabbing street namesContinue reading “Signs of Wonder”

Pertwee’s Pillbox

Here’s another of my pictures of Manx buildings. This one definitely isn’t too pretty but it has an interesting history. It’s a Second World War lookout pillbox, on Douglas Head. It was built as a line of defence for HMS Valkyrie, a naval base once situated on the Head, where personnel were trained in secretContinue reading “Pertwee’s Pillbox”

We Are Cult

Now and then I get a chance to write for the website We Are Cult. As the name suggests it covers TV, music, books, films, and other stuff that’s much-loved but a few steps away from the best sellers. It’s always a joy to see the articles that I’ve written presented in such a stylishContinue reading “We Are Cult”

The Last of the New Romantics

I’ve written a piece for the fantastic We Are Cult website, marking 40 (yes, 40) years since the first single released by Duran Duran. Here’s a link, I hope you enjoy the article. The Last Of The New Romantics: 40 Years Of Duran Duran

The Cupboard of Chaos

Everyone has it. The cupboard that seems to function as a portal to another dimension. Not in a magical ‘gateway to Narnia’ fashion, but in a ‘put things into it and they vanish off the face of the Earth’ sort of way. Shortly after embracing the ways of decluttering, I made an attempt to bringContinue reading “The Cupboard of Chaos”